2023 Mirror Coatings

This year, one of the things we're happy to be able to offer again is the ability to coat mirrors on-site. Thanks to Alan Ward who will be bringing down one of his special machines, this process will be available during Convention again - Alan did this in 2019 also and it was a lot of fun and a great success. If you have a mirror ready to be coated, you might want to bring it to convention.

The important Details:

• Primary mirrors up to 10¼-inches.
• Small diagonals & secondary mirrors will be done together in a batch run. Bring them early if in need of stripping.
• Bare aluminum coatings require a month to naturally form a self protecting clear aluminum-oxide layer 4.5nm thick. Avoid cleaning or dewing of bare aluminum coatings during this curing period.
• Please label your mirrors and containers.
• Up to 12 mirrors will be processed during convention, depending on the weather.
• Humidity is a factor as it can slow down the process, so allow approximately an hour for the entire process.
• The mirrors will be coated with bare aluminum which is fragile and not protected so bring a container for your mirror to ensure the delicate coated surface does not touch any foreign object.
• Mirrors having existing coatings need to be stripped by Alan ahead of time, so arrive early to allow time for this.
• To register a mirror for coating, please fill in the sign-up sheet at the coating location on the West Side of the Pink Clubhouse.
• The only payment Alan requires are bags of ice! These are needed for cooling his aluminizing machine. Please bring 2 bags of ice with your mirror at the scheduled time slot you reserved.
• Planed hours of operation are 9 to 5 on Friday and Saturday.

Alan Ward and his vacuum coating machine at the 2019 Stellafane Convention.

The Purple Glow of the Coating Chamber.

Back to the 2023 Main Convention Page.